Whoa! How odd is to see in the past a reference to an offtopic post I made in a different subforum. Feels kind of recursive "so THAT's what I was doing back then."

Also, to realize how I've been "changing the past" even though I wasn't posting in this thread (I'll never get to see what would have been posted without my intervention, just, what was posted after I posted the diagram in other subforum.)

Angelastic wrote:Signed,The girl who doesn't have a TV and doesn't start watching any such series until she knows it's been properly ended (ever since Dark Angel) and who therefore might be less prepared to deal with the end of Time than the rest of you.

Sorry, you are watching this one now.....

EditTADP: I think Eternal Density's before and after hatting should be recorded as they are! It's wonderful!P.S. Edit: I don't mean that buffygirl should not be allowed to adjust the hat.

buffygirl wrote:uhhhh ..... Lost is still on my to-do list (yes, I missed it first time round! I'm sorry!) So thank you for the spoiler heads-up, cuz it meant that I didn't follow the link! Woot!

I get the impression that it's yet another of those shows whose entire premise is a tantalising overarching mystery but that got cancelled before the mystery was solved, only this one is worse than usual since it went on for six seasons first. So you can save yourself the time and frustration, and take it off the to-do list. Congratulations, you just gained nearly 85 timeframes of free Time!

Signed,The girl who doesn't have a TV and doesn't start watching any such series until she knows it's been properly ended (ever since Dark Angel) and who therefore might be less prepared to deal with the end of Time than the rest of you.

thanks for the heads up

signed,the girl who also still had (sic!) this on her to do list, and who, too, is still miffed about the sudden ending of Dark Angel and Firefly (and no, i don't consider the movie a proper ending for the series!).

When I followed this link, because it goes to forums.xkcd.com and I'm browsing on fora.xkcd.com, all the text suddenly became much larger. So I went back and hit ctrl-0 (reset zoom in Firefox); turns out I'd been viewing the fora about two levels zoomed out. This will make it a lot easier to read when people use small text.

Alse dropping this off on my way through.Edit: Blue line is sea level (left scale), orange is fade (right scale). But of course you all knew that, didn't you?

Attachments

Lord Randall, Creator of the One True Comic wrote:Wait for it.

Helper wrote:The great thing about this needle-pulled thing be that it tin turn ænig everyday situation into an hilarious nightmare:Helper goeth to Starbux:"ic'd like an coffee, please. Hold the baby!""hwæt? eow be, like, weird.""Y-Y-You too.FULL STOPFULL STOP"

When I followed this link, because it goes to forums.xkcd.com and I'm browsing on fora.xkcd.com, all the text suddenly became much larger. So I went back and hit ctrl-0 (reset zoom in Firefox); turns out I'd been viewing the fora about two levels zoomed out. This will make it a lot easier to read when people use small text.

Alse dropping this off on my way through.Edit: Blue line is sea level (left scale), orange is fade (right scale). But of course you all knew that, didn't you?

Thanks! I had noticed the sea level was increasing faster and was about to do the same chart -- saved me the effort Yes, This proves to me, the fade also indicates a leap forward into the future... I expect we may be fast forwarding to when C/M return?

My official prediction: Before we hit #FFFFFF (probably 1 frame before) we will see another image begin to fade in.

Latent22 wrote:The only frame we have proof he edited after was frame 20. The original had Cueballs head facing one way and there was a problem with it as there was a gap between Cueball's neck and his head. He Redrew the head and made it face towards Megan and update the frame 15 hours after it Donged.

up until I posted the below graph on the 22nd he left the modified time stamps in the files so we could actually see when he changed them. But someone must have told him and a few hours later he hid all the timestamp data with a fixed value. But we still have the original data and can see when he changed many of the frames. Like the "River is Small - Sea is Big" frame was changed 2 minutes before it was posted! But now it's all hidden and I don't know of anyone doing any checking now.

I think we should set up a script that GETs every frame (with a 5-30 sec pause between each GET; optimize at will), store the md5 hash of each image in a DB and then keep GETting those PNGs over and over again and comparing the results. If there is a change, an alert should sound off. I don't think it would overload the server, but I also don't believe I could write that script easily.

Yeah from my research he is now faking the timestamps. For a while there we were able to see when he was creating the frames and see that after the initial 600 frames he started doing batches of more frames over time to keep extending the comic. And also some late edits and one post edit for frame 20. But now basically all frames have the same hard coded timestamp. The last info I'm able to guess from the timestamp data is that as of the 22nd he was only up to frame 894. So 895+ have been produced since then but they all have their timestamps faked. Note frame 895+ is when the fading started.

Also about the idea of checking change in file using md5. It is possible but the images have been reprocessed several times already and each time the file completely changed. The picture has always stayed the same (Except for frame 20) on all the frames I've checked (which isn't many). So the problem with the md5 checking is that suddenly all the images files will change but the image probably won't change. And when it happens someone would have to go though and check each image to look for differences which could be kind of tedious. Our best bet is probably to keep a copy of the images as they are released and then once Time ends/loops we can do a comparison then.

buffygirl wrote:uhhhh ..... Lost is still on my to-do list (yes, I missed it first time round! I'm sorry!) So thank you for the spoiler heads-up, cuz it meant that I didn't follow the link! Woot!

I get the impression that it's yet another of those shows whose entire premise is a tantalising overarching mystery but that got cancelled before the mystery was solved, only this one is worse than usual since it went on for six seasons first. So you can save yourself the time and frustration, and take it off the to-do list. Congratulations, you just gained nearly 85 timeframes of free Time!

The impression I got (also having never watched Lost) is that it was a show whose entire premise was a tantalising overarching mystery, but the "truth" behind the mystery was only decided at the last minute. It certainly wasn't a shock cancellation - they went into the sixth season knowing it was the last - they just didn't bother to tie up their loose ends properly.

Of course, since I spent something like 5 years being increasingly smug over people's increasing frustration about Lost not resolving anything, I could be suffering confirmation bias...

Alias was another show with a tantalising overarching mystery that appeared to be being made up as it went along, but there the premise of the show was watching Jennifer Garner play dress-up and kick butt, so it was much less of an issue that the writing team didn't know where it was going either...

Latent22 wrote:Yeah from my research he is now faking the timestamps. For a while there we were able to see when he was creating the frames and see that after the initial 600 frames he started doing batches of more frames over time to keep extending the comic. And also some late edits and one post edit for frame 20. But now basically all frames have the same hard coded timestamp. The last info I'm able to guess from the timestamp data is that as of the 22nd he was only up to frame 894. So 895+ have been produced since then but they all have their timestamps faked. Note frame 895+ is when the fading started.

I think this pretty much proves that Randall is reading this thread.

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands. –Douglas Adams

Latent22 wrote:Also about the idea of checking change in file using md5. It is possible but the images have been reprocessed several times already and each time the file completely changed. The picture has always stayed the same (Except for frame 20) on all the frames I've checked (which isn't many). So the problem with the md5 checking is that suddenly all the images files will change but the image probably won't change. And when it happens someone would have to go though and check each image to look for differences which could be kind of tedious. Our best bet is probably to keep a copy of the images as they are released and then once Time ends/loops we can do a comparison then.

Once again, I'm completely oblivious. I try doing the BlitzGirl thing, reading all of 'em posts, but I guess I skipped some important things.It is normal to have binary changes done to the Past?! Well then, if Time must end, let it end now.

BytEfLUSh wrote:It is normal to have binary changes done to the Past?! Well then, if Time must end, let it end now.

As is, does the actual past ever change once we're done with it? How would we know? If my past is on a server somewhere I don't have access to it. (But, I doubt I'm alone in wishing to make a few select edits to my past.) As for the past of Time, what's normal there is what happens there, so I guess yes, in at least one case the past changing was normal.

astrotter wrote:It is not particularly clear to me at this time that we are not overanalyzing this...

Randalspeed thunk, iskinner, and other blitzers! Notes from the before-was improve the after-when. Some Ways to Time

When I followed this link, because it goes to forums.xkcd.com and I'm browsing on fora.xkcd.com, all the text suddenly became much larger. So I went back and hit ctrl-0 (reset zoom in Firefox); turns out I'd been viewing the fora about two levels zoomed out. This will make it a lot easier to read when people use small text.

Alse dropping this off on my way through.Edit: Blue line is sea level (left scale), orange is fade (right scale). But of course you all knew that, didn't you?

Thanks! I had noticed the sea level was increasing faster and was about to do the same chart -- saved me the effort Yes, This proves to me, the fade also indicates a leap forward into the future... I expect we may be fast forwarding to when C/M return?

My official prediction: Before we hit #FFFFFF (probably 1 frame before) we will see another image begin to fade in.

My latest not-really-a-hypothesis: In some works of SF, when you have a time distortion field where time progresses at a different rate within than without, one of the side effects (if it's been well thought-through) is that light emerging from the field (if it can) is shifted to a longer or shorter wavelength, depending on which way the field is going. So, if time were being sped up within the OTC, normally, we'd see it being blueshifted, from the outside. However, given that it exists in a gr[ea]yscale universe, this obviously can't be, so the only place for that extra energy to go is into greater intensity of the light. So, perhaps the Fade is merely a side effect of Time passing (& sea¹ rising) at an accelerated rate. This might also explain the brevity of LaPetite's² reappearance.

1: big2: not big

Added:

SBN wrote:

Spoiler:

BytEfLUSh wrote:It is normal to have binary changes done to the Past?! Well then, if Time must end, let it end now.

As is, does the actual past ever change once we're done with it? How would we know? If my past is on a server somewhere I don't have access to it. (But, I doubt I'm alone in wishing to make a few select edits to my past.) As for the past of Time, what's normal there is what happens there, so I guess yes, in at least one case the past changing was normal.

What happens in the Past, stays in the Past.

Edit: spoilers for compactness

P.S. I am Randall, but not that Randall.We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better than it was. Better … stronger … well, maybe not faster.Well, BlitzGirl is experiencing a bit of a title wave.

BytEfLUSh wrote:It is normal to have binary changes done to the Past?! Well then, if Time must end, let it end now.

As is, does the actual past ever change once we're done with it? How would we know? If my past is on a server somewhere I don't have access to it. (But, I doubt I'm alone in wishing to make a few select edits to my past.)

Well, I believe that any change to the past would spawn another parallel universe. That's why you can't get "Time travelers party" organized in one place, one time, one universe. Everyone did go to the party - but in their solitary universe, they were the only ones there. (btw, that party sucked, there was only me and this professor... though, there was more booze for me; 3/10 can't get there again)

NoMouse wrote:Has anyone already come up with a theory that this is actually a very bright light caused by nuclear explosion and at the end the castle will be destroyed in an epic way by a shock wave? If not, this is my theory now.

macraw83 wrote:We've missed you in the Great Thread of Time... your periodic signposts were full of insight from our Pasts, and it has been such a delight to monitor your constant progress. Last we heard you were only 29 pages away, getting closer!

I do hope there is nothing serious behind your sudden change in posting habits, hopefully nothing worse than a little outside busyness. Or the best case being that you are determined to catch up in Time!

But soon you will be caught up, and then there will be cake! And then it will all be worth it.

lmjb1964 wrote:Blitzgirl, where are you? We're worried about you!!

AK49BWL wrote:BlitzGirl, are you there? We haven't heard from you in a few Newpix...We miss you!

Me too. I hope she makes it before we reach white, but the good thing is that posting seems to be rather slow at the moment.

ggh wrote:I hope BlitzGirl is doing okay. I wonder if these pages might go a bit nuts in the next dozen newpics.

EraObserver wrote:Huh, people... Blitzgirl hasn't posted for 11 pages now. Has anyone... tried communicating with her in the past?What if the past is eroding with the comic??? She may be disappeared with the fading! WE NEED TO SAVE HER!!!!!Either that or she's just speed reading so she can get here before time ends, and posting would slow her down...

Here begins the tale of my silence. Some time ago, I began to encounter dire warning sigs (and edits):

Spoiler:

AluisioASG wrote:Run BlitzGirl, run! Time is falling apart!

Jonas79 wrote:GO BlitzGirl

Neil_Boekend wrote:Tb OyvgmTvey TbGo BlizGirl Go

descor wrote:Hurry BlitzGirl, hurry VytronYou're running out of Time.

Valarya wrote:Blitzgirl:Beware The FadingIn which Time slowly recedeswe hope you make it...

Latent22 wrote:BlitzGirl!!! Check your hair. Make sure it's not turning slowly Grey! This seems to be happening in the future/present. Just hope you're not affected as well.

treadman wrote:Don't fade away, Blitzirl

Angelastic wrote:BlitzGirl:If you want to save our world, you must hurry. We don't know how much longer we can withstand the Fading.

EraObserver wrote:EDIT: Blitzgirl, hurry! The future is in disarray!!!

Here, take these! *Gives Blitzgirl Shoes of the High Timewalker, gives +200 to waiting*

...Don't ask how I got those.

The number and intensity of these warnings frightened me; it was clear that the thread-dwellers of the Now believed the End of Time was imminent. I was not sure if I agreed with them, but I figured the least I could do was catch up with them - then we could Wait together, whether Time ended or not. Thus, putting my new Shoes to good use, I undertook a desperate sprint for the future!

I actually sprinted so fast that I passed the remainder of my signposts written up to Now:

Many things happened to Time during my sprint. Megan made a desperate effort to rescue the rightmost Flag (and succeeded), but later seemed to turn on the Sandcastle when she Godzilla-stomped the bridge with her foot. Apparently the Sea is sentient (as well as big), and may or may not contain water along with semencoffeecancerbaconbabiesonice. Megan got more flags, and then got bags, and said a sad bye. to the Sandcastle. Then The Fading began, and that's where I have stopped to catch my breath, on newpage 425.

As for general events in the pastposts I passed, there was much talk over the create dates of Timeframes, recursive flooding, and something about a hasheep (sheep from the hashes). There were advanced encriptions that I read, but did not comprehend. I noticed a discussion of favorite words. I found my favorite in a sig, actually:

ChronosDragon wrote:● blitz (plural blitzes) ◌ A sudden attack, especially an air raid; usually with reference to The Blitz. ◌ (figuratively) A sudden effort, as a publicity blitz. ◌ A spontaneous, extended effort to read through the entirety of a piece of media, esp. a forum thread (See: Blitzgirl)

There was a large, flat, boring section of the thread that went something like, "blah blah blah diphthongs blah blah blah" and was easy to sprint over. There was also an XKCD thong, which needs to be a thing. Dangerous creatures I glimpsed included Lemmings attacking the Sandcastle, a rare Time-thread Troll, a planet of apes, and kindles and clowders of kittens and cats. More relevant fare included a listing of potential Outside seas that could be the semencoffeecancerbaconspambabies sea, a visitor map for the thread of Time, the Eras as suggested by descor, and the celebration of the one-month (by Outsider reckoning) tempoversary of both Time and its thread.

And now, I bring you the set of spoilers to end all spoilers in order to individually address pastposts and sigs I spotted, beginning with the dangers I was warned of and/or encountered:

Spoiler:

Caswallon wrote:

BlitzGirl wrote:As Megan and Cueball use their bukkit-system to deliver new construction material to the Next Level of the Sandcastle, the thread of Time meanders along. More brief panic, it seems, when the fora were inaccessible (the horror!) and I also squelched through some rot13. Apparently someone tried to make me part of the Temporal Illuminati, but I believe reading it ALL lends me some kind of exempt-status when it comes to translation traps (I have no choice but to translate, after all). Plus I have the Whistle of Temporal Harmony right now, so I don't think it's technically possible to be at temporal secret-war with myself.

Haha! Little does she know, at least at the moment, that she has already joined the Temporal Illuminati (who don't exist) by accepting the title of "Red Spiders Eyes"!

Plus, the Temporal Illuminati (if they existed) are actually content to watch time go by and aren't really at war with anyone. (Plus at this point I'm sure most of the Temporal Knights are members(Although, not really because it doesn't exist(really, it doesn't(Promise)))).

Okay, perhaps the Temporal Illuminati are not as dangerous as I thought. And I realized, since I'm the Patriarch of the Western Paradox Church, that being both an honorary member of the Knights Temporal and the Temporal Illuminati should be right up my alley, anyhow.

I appreciate the warning. Here, nearly at the end of my Quest, it would be disaster to find myself back on newpage 1.

Foarm wrote:

Latent22 wrote:Yeah that is a cool idea for looping. Gets to some point and they use 'magic' or build a machine to reverse the rise of the sea. But all it does is make the comic roll out backwards to the first frame and then loop.

I don't think BlitzGirl would like that, because then she has to read this needle-pulling-thingy backwards and forwards for ever!

@BlitzGirl: when you see a time machine, you should destroy it before it is activated! Good Luck!

So far, I've destroyed every Time machine I've seen.

jovialbard wrote:

ChronosDragon wrote:No wonder she's taking so long, she's trapped in Zeno's paradox! Next she'll have to get to the fifth-level signposts, then the sixth-level, then the seventh-level, all the while getting closer and closer to caught up but never quite there. Blitzgirl! It's imperative that you not fall into the paradox!

BlitzGirl wrote:What paradoooooooooooox

Ooooo, too late.

Disclaimer: I'm a terrible terrible liar and BlitzGirl never said that, because she wouldn't, because she's totally going to make it, right BlitzGirl? *waits for response*

Totally.

jjjdavidson wrote:

SPACKlick wrote:[snip many many spoilers]

You are remembering that Blitzgirl has made it her Quest to read every single post? Of just the first few spoilers in your list, there were at least two or three that I didn't know.Now, I'm an old fart, so that's not too surprising (I didn't even see Firefly until this year), but it's at least possible that Blitzgirl doesn't know some of these either.Can we please agree, for Blitzgirl's sake, that her Quest does not obligate her to read all the spoilers?ETA:

Later, SPACKlick wrote:I'll note that in the post, I did try to pick older movies with well known twists but then again one man's well known is another man's unheard of I suppose.

Perfect! Thank you, SPACKlick! (In fact, I haven't even heard of some of the movies in your list. I said I was an old fart...)ETA:

Somewhere in there, Bytes wrote:Well, it'll be a bit late when she reads your comment...Also, all these hats appearing are really going to confuse her until she gets here.Hi there Blitzgirl, I hope it all makes sense now!

Ah, but you forget the magic of editingTime travel!And the hats make perfect sense. After all, buffygirl's signature has announced her "Pursuit of Hat Perfection" almost since the beginning of Time (or at least since Newpage 27).ETA: ETAs, just to keep me honest.

I am reading it all, including the spoilers. Come what may! (Oh, and hatting has been around for a long, long Time. It is a natural part of the Thread, and as such, meets the OTT's standards for confusion.)

Smithers wrote:

Latent22 wrote:Everyone except BlitzGirl read this spoiler!

Honestly thought this was going to be some massive walltext to slow the rest of us posting so she could catch up.Why can't BlitzGirl read the spoiler anyway? By the Time she does, she will have seen that to which it refers already and it won't spoil anything.

Latent22 wrote:Please DO NOT Quote this post <snip>

Hehe.Maybe I'm just jealous that I didn't post in the right place to take part. Oh well, I sent a message back to BlitzGirl by post editing before all y'all (did we decide that "all y'all" was the plural of "y'all"?) even invented sigcouragement.Edit to not double post:

Latent22 wrote:Edit2: Note the above makes complete sense except for the rain. maybe someone can come up with an Idea for what Randall really means for rain.

Changes in italicsLeader: Does BlitzGirl read the Comic?People:I don't know; if she does it seems like a waste.Leader:BlitzGirl reads the forums where the thread comes from, right?People:Sure.

The party was not spoiled for me, as I was pleasantly surprised on page 380. (I like the modified litany.)

Eternal Density wrote:BlitzGirl: Don't choose the spork unless there's an even number of waffles!

StratPlayer wrote:Is this It??? Is Time really nearing an end!?!?! I was gone and was so happy to just get back to TIme after several days away, and restore the needed OTT-insanity to balance out the insanity of the Outside, and NOW it might be ending?

Before BlitzGirl makes it to the present???

I hope it is not the end, but I'm doing my best to reach you guys just in case it is.

Lovely gifts I received (yay!):

Spoiler:

jovialbard wrote:Haha! Here it is. I haven't been able to contribute to the fancy graphs or hats, so I made this as my present to you all. Hopefully you all enjoy it and don't think the song choice is weird/dumb, but it just popped into my head on the way home from work yesterday and I couldn't get it out. I think if I actually knew what I was doing the video would be better and hopefully you find the singing pleasant enough as well. Like I said, I don't exactly have a music studio in my house and I never claimed to be Michael Buble. That should be enough disclaimers and self-deprecation to cover my butt! Enjoy.

That. Is. WONDERFUL! Thank you! You are indeed a jovial bard!

jjjdavidson wrote:I haven't had much to add to the discussion of the latest frames, so it seems like a good time to post this:

SigcouragementFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sigcouragement, in a web forum or similar venue, indicates a poster's use of the signature feature of the forum to provide encouragement and support to those reading a lengthy thread after the poster has already done so. It is a portmanteau of signature and encouragement, apparently coined[original research?] by user "BlitzGirl" in a progress post[1] on the 1190: "Time"[2] thread of the user forum of the xkcdwebcomic, after numerous earlier posters altered their signatures specifically to encourage her progress.

Latent22 wrote:Just like the Wonderful Buffygirl I have made a hat for BlitzGirl!!

Would that be LaPetit Blitzgirl?

BlitzGirl already has so many titles. sure she won't mind an extra one...

Oh, sure. Been a while since I've added one anyhow... *adds*

Talk of hats:

Spoiler:

SBN wrote:

buffygirl wrote:AND, I should probably have a hat waiting for BlitzGirl's arrival. But what kind of hat?

Blitzgirl has a hat. Perhaps a hatband, or a feather to decorate it?

I do have a hat. But I am interested to see what a futurehat looks like!

mscha wrote:I have the impression, though, that BlitzGirl didn't fully 'get' the time traveling operations we put in place for her, beginning with the request to switch her hat for a beret.

Hey, I wore that beret on my Quest from newpage 351 all the way until newpage 380. I took it off after the party because I was told via sig:

Latent22 wrote:You only have to wear it till newPage 380. Not long to go now. Keep it up!

Not to mention it was not a buffygirl-sanctioned hatting, which has to be heresy of one form or another. Anyhow, I now sport the avatar sent through a Time vortex to me by Latent 22 most appropriate to the current Time Period.

KarMann wrote:

BlitzGirl wrote:

Latent22 wrote:BlitzGirl!!!!! I have a hat for you. If you wear it your future will be most awesome!

But... I LIKE MY HAT.

Don't you mean, you like BHG's hat?

Finders keepers, as the saying goes. I like the hat currently atop my head, regardless of its dubious past ownership.

azule wrote:It's that time again, kids!Ꮸ

BlitzGirl is a small Parisian. She is a kid. Young, full of spiritᏜ, ready to take on the world. Kicking ass and taking gemsᏠ. Her hat holds her power. Which hat it is, I'm sure it does not matter, just that she have a hat. Her hair traps the wind. All stands still until she decides its time to battle. The flags will wave, and so will the sea. She will not fight the castle with her fist or foot. She will unleash the rain and punish us with the river. All will collapse to dust. It will be as it began. Tremble before the might of LaPetite!Ꮚ

[spoiler]Ꮚ*weeps*ᏠThanks for the gems. I keep them on my mantle. Hmm, would they survive in the fireplace. It would be so pretty.ᏜGumption / bacon﻿caffeinated﻿semen﻿cancer﻿babies.ᏨBrought to you by the CSA. Where dreams come true . . . because wake-dreams are real. Sorta

I would totally go see this superhero movie. Even if it was in 3D. And that's saying something!

I make a linear average on your numbers meet at C.450 and a x3 progression encounters at C.473.that said, I think it would be more useful to look at a Blitzpages per hour (averaged to negate comas) vs Newpage per hour as certain errors would cancel and by that I get a prediction closer to 500 (sorry Blitzgirl, Don't be down heartened, please use this skateboard I have lain here for you to ease your journey a little)

Yeah, I was thinking about putting in the dates of her posts as well and calculating progress based on that... maybe I will do that today if I have time. If you give me the formula for that fancy stat you're doing I'll throw it on the sheet I'm sure my analysis is far from perfect since I pretty much just made it up off the top of my head.

Umm, I take the time in days between updates and the number of pages (blitz and new) per update to find the rate of blitz/new pages per day I then average that over 3 updates (to reduce fluctuations) The latest rates are (xPages/day 1 update, 3 update, 5 update, 7 update average)

Blitz (20.5, 16.85, 18.85, 9.12)New(20.5, 13.48, 11.45, 18.62)

Blitzrate is getting closer and closer to Newrate over time and I worry that it's asymptotic. Working with the 5 update rate discrepancy 7.4 Blitzpages per day, Time sync in 5.136 days (58.8Newpgs)3 update rate discrepancy 3.38 Blitzpages per day, Time sync in 11.25days (128.8Newpgs)with the 1 and 7 update rates, Blitzgirl is currently not catching Newpages.

ETA some of your Newpage numbers are different from mine, where bltizgirl has put a blitzpages/newpages and that disagrees with the current newpage, I went with current newpage rather than Blitzreported newpage.I'm getting sick of the amount of red underlining posts on BlitztisticsTM get...time to update my dictionary.

ETA2: After Blitzupdate 203/286 the rates of both blitzpaging and newpaging level off a bit and that predicts timesync at Newpage 476 May 6th

edo wrote:I haven't caught up to the present, but I'm seeing a lot of unfounded doubt RE BlitzGirl. I can't understand why, she's making great BlitzGress:

Tass wrote:Good news everyone!The slowdown of Blitzgirl seems to have ceased. The past hundred NewPages her progress has been surprisingly linear. I am therefore confident in projecting The Great Meeting to take place before the of the current century (100 NewPages). It looks like we'll be able to enjoy the second half of the first millpagium1 together. 1-ennium comes from annum meaning year, and had to be changed.22 Century on the other hand can be a hundred of anything.

ChronosDragon wrote:According to my calculations (and my calculator's Quartic Regression function), both the thread and Blitzgirl's blitz are in danger of emminent destruction! Repent! Repent while you still can!Or maybe quartic regression was just a poor choice of model. One or the other.

Okay, that last is a little worrisome.

jovialbard wrote:btw I'm going away for the weekend and won't be around to participate in the fun (awwww) so I made my spreadsheet editable in case anyone still wants to use it. There's a chance I might even miss BlitzGirl while I'm gone! gasp!

Don't worry - even if you miss me in the Now the experience will still be coded in pastposts - you will be able to go back and read it all.

Other discussions concerning my Questing:

Spoiler:

XonqNopp wrote:WWBGJ (When Would BlitzGirl Join)

Soon, I hope!

Dracomax wrote:Anyone who obstructs the holy journey of blitzgirl shall face the inquisition.So let it be written, so let it be done.

Huzzah! Chocolate the obstructors! And let us eat cake!

jovialbard wrote:The one thing about knowing that BlitzGirl is coming is that when you write something stupid or embarrassing, you know somebody is going to read it, again. Now that I've actually done the due diligence of a google search I have to go back and edit a disclaimer into my posts about that name.

And if not me, then perhaps some other Quester, like Vytron! This Thread's past is still alive and kicking, even as it races into the future!

XonqNopp wrote:

BlitzGirl wrote:And away I go, forward into your past, which is my future!

Ha ha... Wait, what??

And now I've read much of your past, which makes it my past, too, though I encountered it far in the future of the Time when it was your present.

Jonas79 wrote:Also, BlitzGirl has been around 40 pages behind present for many longpix now... Let's see if she'll make a sprint soon to catch up Go BlitzGirl

I'm trying!

mscha wrote:

Jonas79 wrote:BlitzGirl is online, enduring her quest By the time you get here, I predict the thread of Time has slowed down enough for you to see the end in sight.

Unfortunately (for BlitzGirl, that is), I'm pretty sure the OTT has speeded up again in the past few days...

Ugh, I think you're right. Who hit the accelerator?

RobIrr wrote:This might be heretical, but I quite like her missives-from-the-past, and it would almost be a shame not to get more of them when she catches up! Maybe we'd have to restrict her to only posting once every five pages..

I suggest sending a newbie to Time back to page one, and hope they generate missives of their own accord. If that doesn't work, send another one. And another. A million newbies at a million keyboards will eventually come up with all the Quest reports you'll ever need.

Getting closer! Hopefully not much left when you reach this post... The past me will be waiting with you (I suppose) my present me is waiting for you, and the future me is already happy to have met you! Cheering for BlitzGirl!!

Such kind words, and I look forward to meeting you-of-the-future when we share the same Now!

azule wrote:

Caswallon wrote:Yay! The Blitzgirl approaches our present!Although, I'm tempted to denote the meeting of Blitzgirl and our present as "Blitzpocalypse", but then again it could also be "Blitzrapture"!

Blitzapalooza.Speaking of BlitzGirl, every time I read one of her posts it feels very different from the PresentPosts. Oblivious of our squabbles and rants. One post miffed, BlitzGirl nostalgiaing for us, next post miffed again, like it didn't even happen. It discombobulates me a little bit. In a good way, I'm sure.

Apocablitz.And I fear that my effect will not be the same once my posts are true presentposts.

Montov wrote:

cmyk wrote:

Ptarr wrote:

Megan wrote:bye.

Is this the end of time?

I believe, dear friend, it is just the beginning...

I would say it hasn't even started yet. The comic will start when BlitzGirl is in the present.

Could all of Time have been a prologue to something greater than itself?

The Haiku-calypse:

Spoiler:

First I saw a glimpseOf this sig, warning me ofA haiku-nami:

aeglaeca wrote:Blitzgirl, take Angelastic's advice and don't stop to read all her haikus. Otherwise we may have to wait longer for you than it. They are really cool though...

But yet I still readAll four hundred fifty twoHaiku in this post:

Angelastic wrote:Hmm, I wonder if there is a post length limit. Let's find out! Here are all 452 haiku in the thread up to the point that Sciscitor scraped the text. <SNIP>

BlitzGirl is exempt from reading all but those that concern her:I think this thread has jumped the shark, Blitzgirl's posts are my favorite thing.

It'll become a Blitzgirl Threadological Singularity.

But we need to keep a record of alternate timelines for BlitzGirl

In fact BlitzSpeed has been gradually climbing as her posts advance...

Angelastic wrote:BlitzGirl is of course only obliged to read this one:

Clearly not as fast as Blitzgirl, but I guess it's hard to beat lightning.

BlitzGirl, BlitzGirl, she's the one. BlitzGirl will do it, it shall be done!

Good ones! The second especially, just because it's so positive. I also thought of

Blitzgirl, Blitzgirl, she's our dude! If she can't do it, we're all screwed!

but I didn't want to put that much pressure on her.

Don't worry, this would have been worse:BlitzGirl, BlitzGirl, almost there! If she can't do it, all despair!

VoronX wrote:Signpost: Greetings from newpage 393/406!!I seem to now be doing the Blitzgirl journey in reverse. <snip>And so, I thought I would throw this lifeline (grapling hook?) out to the present, in the hopes of reeling myself back to the present. As well as, you know, documentation and potential fodder for fun and holy graphs and whatnot. Yet I fear my newpage reading rate may not be sufficient. Well, at least maybe I'll run into Blitzgirl as she races past me... Hi BlitzGirl!!!

Good luck on your journey, VoronX! *waves* Please don't run into me! I'm going at a rather high rate of speed.

jovialbard wrote:Shouldn't you quickly quote the "it's Blitzgirl" line before serving the cake, so that she doesn't get confused? Just suggestions. Also, jealous because I can't have any cake.Edit: Unless BlitzGirl brings some into the future with her vest of many pockets...

It's coming! I put it in a special tupperware so hopefully it's not too stale by the time I arrive...

Exodies wrote:Davidy is probably Blitzgirl's sock puppet. That's the most likely thing I can think of.

Uh, no. If I had a sock puppet, he might look something like this:

StratPlayer wrote:I am back, once again eager to embrace the OTC and follow the edict of Waiting For It, as was decreed so many Newpixs ago...After three days spent on a jury for gang-related attempted murder, I must say that I am very relieved to leave the Outside behind, for it is harsh and scary Out there!I am now around twenty NewPages behind... But as BlitzGirl has shown, it is right and proper to read them all, and so I shall.So back into the no-so-distant-Time-of-Before I go; Where there is madness, but where it is a friendly and cuddly and soothing form of madness, and I once again welcome its embrace, for it is far, far better than the harsh, cold, and violent madness of the Outside!

The River is small!

The Sea is big! Hope you fared well on your journey, StratPlayer!

Purplepants77 wrote:I wonder how ridiculous we1 will think we sounded in our current present when we advance another 800 newpix and look back on our future past comments and predictions. Will our Newpage 400 selves seem as naive to our Newpage 800 selves as our Newpage 10 selves appear to us now?? What if Randall really does intend to introduce time travel? What if all of the past frames do change?? What if there is a whole new level to this that we're not even seeing right now and won't become apparent until we reach the foretold It?! We have no proof to rule out almost any outlandish theory you can come up with, so why should we expect "It" to be simple?!? I can't handle this! What do I do?! How do I cope with so many possibilities!?! Ahh!! My head might explOHDUFDSF1"We" refers to the group of individuals or bots that are following this needle-pulled-thingy at any given point in Time. "We" is a legally binding contract and is subject to change at any Time. "We" assumes no liability.

Let me reassure you: everybody sounds ridiculous after a couple hundred newpix on the thread of Time. But that's a good thing. Trust me, I've read it all.

And finally, we might have a little problem:

Angelastic wrote:

BlitzGirl wrote:

Angelastic wrote:If there is a downturn in discussion, at least BlitzGirl will get here sooner. And what will we do then? I suggest we destroy the moon.

Why destroy the moon? I'm sure we can find a better use for it than destruction...

The moon might cause tides that destroy sandcastles! But you're right. Maybe we should shine lasers on it and use it to light up the sky.

Oh Randall. Is The Fading all my fault? Turn off the lasers! Abort! Abort!

TL;DR - I was too out of breath from sprinting through the Thread of Time to chat, even through signposts! But I'm almost there!

...I would say, Onward! but I really need a break right now. I'm currently under 20 newpages away from the Present, though, so I hope to see you all soon!

RobIrr wrote:I don't look directly at the comic itself; that'd be a spoiler! I prefer reading the commentary on the way to it

Yeah, definitely found myself doing this.

And some thoughts.

And wow, kept saying La petite had to do something more, but was equally shocked to see her. As I'm playing catch up, I totally thought someone was screwing around again with fake newpix. ...And now hope crashes...So how much time elapsed between the two pics on either side of her arrival. Quite a change in the decay of the castle in those few pics.

Also, at what point won't we be able to see the fade? I mean, can the human eye distiguish #FFFFFF and #FBFBFB.

I believe I'm starting to detect a linear stretch on the fade. I copied, and rotated the graph, changing one to magenta the other to green, and multiplied the colors so when they overlap, they make black.

Note the datapoints line up perfectly for the center of the linear slope. Could the fade be easing out by frame ~1000? Could I be totally wrong?!

Stay tuned to the Glacial Channel.® Barely Perceptible Change, On the Hour, Every Hour.™

By the way, the list of Hats by buffygirl has grown considerably, but I'm sure it's still far from exhaustive. Feel free to point out anyone whose buffygirl magnificence is still missing from the page.

In particular, we still need unhatted versions of avatars. If your pre-buffydashery/buffymillinery is missing, please post an image (already at avatar size, please) and somebody will add it to the page. If you put "before avatar" in your post, it'll be easier for us non-BlitzGirl types to find.

Aahh! While I'm writing this, BlitzGirl at last gives us an update (which unfortunately will probably delay her arrival a good half-hour when she reaches Newpage 438).Yay, BlitzGirl!But I am reminded, BlitzGirl's beret needs to be added to the list of hats.

jjjdavidson wrote:By the way, the list of Hats by buffygirl has grown considerably, but I'm sure it's still far from exhaustive. Feel free to point out anyone whose buffygirl magnificence is still missing from the page.

This seems obvious... But, perhaps buffygirl has he exhaustive list, with images?

Angelastic wrote:Signed,The girl who doesn't have a TV and doesn't start watching any such series until she knows it's been properly ended (ever since Dark Angel) and who therefore might be less prepared to deal with the end of Time than the rest of you.

Sorry, you are watching this one now.....

EditTADP: I think Eternal Density's before and after hatting should be recorded as they are! It's wonderful!P.S. Edit: I don't mean that buffygirl should not be allowed to adjust the hat.

Angelastic wrote:Signed,The girl who doesn't have a TV and doesn't start watching any such series until she knows it's been properly ended (ever since Dark Angel) and who therefore might be less prepared to deal with the end of Time than the rest of you.

Sorry, you are watching this one now.....

EditTADP: I think Eternal Density's before and after hatting should be recorded as they are! It's wonderful!P.S. Edit: I don't mean that buffygirl should not be allowed to adjust the hat.

What's this about adjusting it??

I think it was jonas79's that buffygirl was unsatisfied with.

astrotter wrote:It is not particularly clear to me at this time that we are not overanalyzing this...

Randalspeed thunk, iskinner, and other blitzers! Notes from the before-was improve the after-when. Some Ways to Time

jjjdavidson wrote:By the way, the list of Hats by buffygirl has grown considerably, but I'm sure it's still far from exhaustive. Feel free to point out anyone whose buffygirl magnificence is still missing from the page.

This seems obvious... But, perhaps buffygirl has he exhaustive list, with images?

I believe I'm starting to detect a linear stretch on the fade. I copied, and rotated the graph, changing one to magenta the other to green, and multiplied the colors so when they overlap, they make black.

Note the datapoints line up perfectly for the center of the linear slope. Could the fade be easing out by frame ~1000? Could I be totally wrong?!

Stay tuned to the Glacial Channel.® Barely Perceptible Change, On the Hour, Every Hour.™

Your graph's prediction is unsustainable.After nüpiks 973, it predictsmore than all the black to be faded.To this, I ask you: What gives?Additionally, I do wonderwhat sort of poem this one is.However, to find this out may be a blunderfor this rhyme scheme may not be in the list.This poem, shalt not continue forevermore.Yet so far I've not seen a pattern;Of this rhyme scheme I do not see a score.Despite my list reaching out to Saturn.This rhyme is ABAB, but was of free verse.And, alas, I say to our friends,Of this rhyme, I shall curseFor really, this so-called "poem" must end.

I believe I'm starting to detect a linear stretch on the fade. I copied, and rotated the graph, changing one to magenta the other to green, and multiplied the colors so when they overlap, they make black.

Note the datapoints line up perfectly for the center of the linear slope. Could the fade be easing out by frame ~1000? Could I be totally wrong?!

Stay tuned to the Glacial Channel.® Barely Perceptible Change, On the Hour, Every Hour.™

Your graph's prediction is unsustainable.After nüpiks 973, it predictsmore than all the black to be faded.To this, I ask you: What gives?Additionally, I do wonderwhat sort of poem this one is.However, to find this out may be a blunderfor this rhyme scheme may not be in the list.This poem, shalt not continue forevermore.Yet so far I've not seen a pattern;Of this rhyme scheme I do not see a score.Despite my list reaching out to Saturn.This rhyme is ABAB, but was of free verse.And, alas, I say to our friends,Of this rhyme, I shall curseFor really, this so-called "poem" must end.

You and your facts!

Actually, if I unethically fudge the data, by bringing the first frame that lightened (8%) down to the baseline, and likewise the last frame... Ehh screw it. I'll just wait for it.

Although... Frame 973... Just about the place for a cross dissolve to begin to fade in? Shaddup, I know I'm stretching!

"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit." —Doc Brown

vvn wrote:EditTADP: I think Eternal Density's before and after hatting should be recorded as they are! It's wonderful!P.S. Edit: I don't mean that buffygirl should not be allowed to adjust the hat.

What's this about adjusting it??

I thought buffygirl said she wanted to adjust your hat. I wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstood. buffygirl has occasionally adjusted hats after delivery, and I didn't want to sound like I disapproved of that behavior.